“Then he’s in charge now,” the gunman said in a matter-of-fact way. His face lost its tension for a few seconds as his eyes turned to the left, darting back and forth. When he brought them back up, he shook his hand again, making the gun wobble. “Keys. Now.”
Krista shook her head. “Sorry, don’t have them.”
“Where are they?”
“In the ignition.”
The gunman turned his eyes to the bearded man and Scab Girl. “Let’s go.”
“Wait!” Summer said, ignoring Krista’s advice to keep silent. A different approach was needed. “We have casualties in the back. At least let us bury them first.” She glanced at Krista with a raised eyebrow, hoping the Security Chief would understand why.
Krista pinched her eyes and sent back a subtle head nod.
The gunman stopped his feet, never taking his aim from Krista, his finger still resting on the trigger. “Fine. Get them out. We don’t need to be ferrying a bunch of corpses anyway. But like I said before, no sudden moves. I’ll shoot if I have to.”
Krista took the lead, setting a path to the transport with her arms raised. Her feet moved with purpose, each foot plant looking measured. If Summer didn’t know better, she would have thought Krista was stalling until she could come up with a plan.
Summer followed a few paces behind, feeling the weight of the gunman’s eyes on her back. She figured he was close, keeping her and Krista where he could see them.
“Hold on a second,” the gunman said as Krista put her hand out to move the hanging tarp on the rear of the truck. “I wasn’t born yesterday. You need to take a step back. Slowly.”
Krista and Summer moved away, giving the man access to the tailgate. He put his hand inside and pried the tarp up, never taking his eyes from Krista.
Just then a snarl of slobber and teeth came up and clamped onto the man’s wrist. The gunman screamed in pain as Sergeant Barkley tore into his flesh.
Krista didn’t hesitate when the gunman dropped his guard to whirl around and deal with the dog. She charged him, then jumped into the air with a fist raised above her shoulder. She brought the blow down hard, hitting the back of his head with a wicked strike. It was sheer violence in action.
The gunman’s face slammed into the upper edge of the metal tailgate, making a ringing sound. His body went limp an instant later, hanging from the tailgate with his wrist stuck in the mouth of Sergeant Barkley.
CHAPTER 2
Krista bent down and snatched the gunman’s weapon from the pavement, then spun to face the Scab Girl and the bearded guy, wondering which one might make a move first. “Freeze!”
Scab Girl kept her snarls in high gear, trying to wriggle herself free from the clutches of the bearded man.
Krista kept the gun aimed at the cannibal, her index finger straight and resting just outside the trigger guard. If she saw so much as a flinch, she’d already decided to shoot them both. Twice to the chest and one to the head—a triple-tap called The Mozambique, something her Drill Sergeant in Basic had preached endlessly. “Better keep your meat-eater in check, or I’ll sic ours on her. Trust me, yours will lose that battle. Sergeant Barkley loves fresh meat. Especially young Scab meat.”
Right on cue, the dog poked his head out from under the tarp, his chin resting on the top of the tailgate, with teeth showing and drool mounting.
Krista couldn’t believe the wounded animal understood exactly what she needed him to do at that moment, all while he was in pain and weak from the knife wound to the hip. “All I have to do is say the word and your pet there is toast.”
“Look, we’re sorry,” the bearded man said. He pointed at the other guy lying on the ground. “The ambush was all Lipton’s idea. He held a gun on us, too.”
Krista gritted her teeth with her jaw sticking out. “Bullshit. You were working together. Coordinated.”
“I’m telling you the truth. Lipton threatened to shoot us if we didn’t go along. We just need some help, that’s all. Lipton is the one who wanted to steal your truck.”
Krista pointed at the blonde with a set of ravenous eyes locked on her. “Yeah, what about her? The last thing on her mind right now is asking for help.”
“It’s just instinct. If you put the gun down, she’ll calm down.”
“Yeah. That’s never going to happen.”
“Trust me. She’s one of the good Scabs.”
“There’s no such thing.”
Summer stepped next to Krista and touched a soft hand on Krista’s forearm. “It’s okay, Krista. Let me handle it.”
“That’s a bad idea, boss. We need to dispose of these three and get back on the road.”
“No, we’re not doing that.”
“Look, they initiated the threat, so now we end the threat. It’s all part of the Rules of Engagement.”
“I know what I’m doing, Krista. It’s time for you to trust me for a change. I’ve spent far more time out in the wild than you. I have a good sense for these things. So right now, I need you to put the gun down. I’ve got this.”
Krista hesitated for a beat, working the scenario through her head. Her brain was telling her to shoot all three of the attackers and leave them to rot, but her sense of duty wouldn’t allow her. She let her gun hand drop to her side. “Yes, ma’am.”
“What’s your name?” Summer asked the bearded man.
“Horton,” he said, turning his eyes to the Scab Girl. He wrapped an arm around the girl’s shoulders. “This is Helena.”
“Helena? You gave it a name?” Krista asked, not believing what she was hearing. Or seeing.
“We had to call her something.”
“But Helena? Seriously?”
“It’s a long story.”
“I’ll bet.”
“It doesn’t matter, Krista,” Summer said, shooting her a look to back down.
Krista couldn’t help herself, speaking again to Horton, only this time with sarcasm fueling her words. “So, what? You two are a couple?”
Horton took his arm from Helena and moved a step away, standing gingerly on his bad leg. “No. She rescued me when Frost tried to kill me. I owe her.”
Krista smirked. “Okay, that’s a first. A Scab helping a human. Usually, it’s teeth first and then ask questions later.” She let a round of silence hang in the air, then said, “So let me get this straight. She just shows up out of the blue and saves you from Frost.”
“Yes, that’s basically what happened. If it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t be standing here right now.”
Krista didn’t buy it. Not for a second. “How do you know she’s not a plant? Setting us up for some kind of Scab ambush. We’ve seen it before.”
“She’s not. Her kind is hunting her as well.”
“Why would they do that?”
“My guess . . . because she’s unique. Maybe the only one. Girl, I mean. I’m pretty sure they are going to want her back.”
“Again, hard to believe,” Krista said, flaring an eyebrow at Summer.
Summer motioned to Horton’s leg. “What happened there?”
Horton pointed at the truck. “Frost’s dog.”
Krista laughed. “I’m more impressed with that mutt all the time. That dog has good taste, so to speak.”
Summer turned and shot a look at the gunman lying unconscious on the ground, then back at Horton. “What’s his story?”
“That’s Doc Lipton. Our chief tech.”
“One of Frost’s guys,” Summer said in an affirmative tone.
“Okay, at least I’ve heard of him,” Krista said. “A bit of an asshole, from what I hear.”
“That part is true,” Horton said. “But he also defected from Frost’s camp. In fact, he went out into the cold in search of me.”
Krista thought for a moment about believing him, but then her training kicked in, analyzing the ambush and everything that had happened since she’d stopped the truck. “And yet he held a gun on you and the Scab. I’m sorry, but that doesn’t jive in my book.”